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Wednesday, June 4, 2014

After Easter and Communions and business trips I am finally back home with some spare time for my new passion! To help get me into the shop I decided to participate in the 2014 Summers 2x4 Woodworking competition. What that entailed was me build something out of a 2x4, 8 feet long and doing a YouTube build video. Actually this would be my first YouTube video. Right in the beginning of filming I had a close call which caused me to make a change in my project.Check it out here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gTRPqjy3ggAfter that I wanted to actually build something more fun and creative so on the last day of the competition at 4:00 in the afternoon I get the bright idea to try to build and video edit a project in 8 hours! I was pleased with how it came out.Second Entry - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf4i4ZUUZuASo I didn't win but that was OK. I wanted to see what it was like to actually do a build video and you know what? I had a blast! I really enjoyed it and will continue to do build videos. Steve Carmichael actually won the competition with an amazing project...he built a fully functioning guitar out of a 2x4....a GUITAR! A very well deserved win for Steve.Steve's project - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaZhDHcAN78So be prepared for a LOT of content to come down the pike....a lot of exciting and fun stuff is on it's way.Damn it is good to be back! :-)

Monday, April 14, 2014

So finally the cold weather has hopefully passed us by and I can actually do some woodworking! But first I had to set up some of my "shop". Up till now this was the mess I had to work with.

It is a 2 car garage that I have to share with the family. If you can't tell there is a TON of junk behind the tools as well. This made for a very frustrating working experience. But now with the warm weather I was able to move the summer stuff out, clear out some junk and create a dedicated space for my woodworking obsession. What a difference a day makes!

I still have a few items in the corner to donate and that will give me even MORE room. I am very excited to have this much space. Now I don't plan to build anything permanent right away. I want to see exactly how I will work with my tools as well as where they will be shooting dust. Almost all of my upcoming projects will be around shop set up. Projects like tool organizers, safety cabinet and shop jigs. Oh boy let the fun begin!!

Friday, March 28, 2014

In a previous post I talked about the awesome woodworking community and how woodworkers go out of their way to help other woodworkers. Well that desire to help others doesn't stop with just other woodworkers. One of the more popular YouTube woodworkers is Steve Ramsey from Woodworking for Mere Mortals. Lately he has been auctioning off his weekly projects to the Make-A-Wish Foundation where 100% of the proceeds go to the charity. Well this week he did a little something extra and teamed up with another YouTuber, Xiaonan Sun of ThePortraitArt YouTube Channel. Xiaonan creates these unbelievable works of art via time-lapse video. So this week Xiaonan created a beautiful picture of a child staring at a candle and Steve built a equally beautiful custom frame for it. Please check out their videos and please share. When you share you will be helping great people who are putting out great videos for a great cause.Click here for Steve's VideoClick here for Xiaonan's VideoClick here the eBay Listing

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

So one of the cool things about woodworking tools is that there is a special tool for almost every activity involved in working with wood. Unfortunately that also means it can get very expense, very quickly. So what we have to do is find ways to combine task with tools we already have. At this point a jointer clearly falls into my "like to have bucket". But it does serve a important purpose in the shop. It allows you to create perfect straight edges to your boards for glue ups. So while the tool is a "like to have" the task it performs is a "must have". So what's a new woodworker to do? Here are two VERY simple ways to turn either your router or table saw into a jointer!

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Everyone enjoys or doesn't enjoy as much particular steps. Personally my least favorite is the finishing portion of the project. I think it's just cause you put so much work into the first 3 steps that if you don't do the last one well it could ruin all your hard work. Well here are 2 quick yet effective tips to help anyone close the deal and wrap up that project.How to apply a fast and easy wood finish by Steve Ramsey over at Woodworking for Mere MortalsEasy Wood Finish Rustic Style! by Izzy Swan (the Jig Master!....that's my name for him)

Friday, March 14, 2014

When I think about the workshop I will build this spring Dust Collection is the one thing that keeps me up at night. Like most of us, our workshops are not as big as we would like. Mine will be in the garage sharing space with my wife's car and our other garage junk. So keeping a shared small workplace clean and organized has to be a priority. I plan on doing a lot of talking, planning and building around dust collection and this simple yet amazing project from Jay Bates just moved to the top of my to do list.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

I really enjoy Steve Ramsey's YouTube Channel Woodworking for Mere Mortals. He has a great passion, awesome sense of humor and something I think something that gets over looked but he has a true joy of woodworking. He never over complicates things or takes himself too seriously. I eagerly wait for his weekly Friday videos cause I learn something new from each and every one of his videos. To be honest it was his call to action in his video blog Mere Minutes that prompted me to start this blog.Check out his super quick tip video on how to add a graphic to any wood project How to transfer an inkjet photo to wood

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

The French Cleat system is an easy and flexible way to hang virtually anything on a wall. While it has been mostly used in hanging cabinets it can be used to hang shelves, pictures or racks for tool storage. It's generally a 3 to 4 inch wide (3/4 inch to 1 inch thick) piece of wood or plywood cut at a 45 degree angle. One piece gets securely mounted to the wall while the other piece of wood gets mounted to whatever it is you need to hang. Put the two together and you get a very secure connection. Lately they have been a ton of french cleat tool storage videos on YouTube but as Father Thomas from MonkWerks.org points out there are some issues when using the system for racks/shelf tool storage. But like any good woodworker he doesn't just point out the issue he provides a great workaround tip. Check out his article & video: MonkWerks: French Cleat Clamp Rack

Monday, March 10, 2014

Steve Carmichael from the Carmichael Workshop attended the Woodworking show in Atlanta this weekend. He submitted his Wooden Sandwich made from a 2x4 into the "Other" category and won second place!

Steve has one of the best YouTube channels around not only cause he provides great instructions but I like that he uses different tools for different woodworking projects. He will do projects on the scroll saw, the band saw or the lathe. One thing I really appreciate is Steve takes us with him as he does his projects so if he makes a mistake (we all do) or has to make a change in the design we see that and observe how he makes the corrections/changes.

Friday, March 7, 2014

One of the best things about woodworking
and DIYers is the community. There is such an overwhelming amount of
sharing and helping it blows my mind. Woodworkers are so overly helpful
whether it’s helping you figure something out or explaining a technique or
sharing experiences with tools it is amazing.
I actually have a personal theory on it.

1. Anyone doing woodworking or
into DIY has a strong passion for it, it's not a something you "do on the
side" or "do every now and then". This is something that
gets inside of you and really fires you up. And when you are excited and
see other people take an interest in the same thing well it goes super
nova pretty quickly.

2. Most people aren't born with a
knowledge base on how to build or fix something. So most of us have
learned from others and can remember when we knew nothing. So when we are
placed in a position to help someone else and pass knowledge on we remember
what it was like to be in his or her shoes.

3. Generally woodworking is a
solitary activity. Half the time you have a respirator, ear protection
and safely goggles on so you couldn't talk or hear someone else if they
were in the shop with you. So doing all that work alone will
eventually make you want to get out to interact with others.

Who would want to talk to this?!?

Here are two videos of two different
woodworkers that I learn from and follow on YouTube.
They both were in need of some tool upgrades and without asking woodworkers
got together to get them the tools. I
honestly love the emotion these guys display.

Welcome to the woodworking community!Once you are in…you will never want to leave.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Hello Everyone,My name is Adam and I am a NEW woodworker. I recently found the passion for woodworking out of necessity. The short story is my son needed a small bookshelf for his room. The one my wife wanted was one of those kiddy canvas sling jobs....with shipping it was going to cost me $110! It was a few sticks with canvas sewed on it for a $110...I could not justify that so while on a business trip, in a corporate office I saw a simple design for a on the wall book shelf. I thought to myself "I could build that!" even though I have NEVER built anything from scratch before. So I came home, bought a circular saw, some nails and a 2x4 foot piece of 3/4 inch plywood. 2 weeks later, a failed "test" piece (which just means I screwed up the first one I tried) and a lot of specific internet research I built 2 boxes with a missing top.

To be honest I am damn proud of those shelves and even though it should have taken me an afternoon I am happy with the results. But now I am obsessed! What did I do next? Googled "working with wood"...I am almost ashamed to admit this but I was not even aware of the term "woodworking". I am a New Yorker who sells software, has 2 young kids loves technology and video games. Woodworking was a world I simply never crossed paths with. So after a little searching...wow...I found this awesome world of woodworking and more importantly the woodworking community in general. There are a group of people who are on the internet who are out there suppling FREE content to push us to learn, grow and inspire us make anything we want.A FEW of my favorites are:Jay Bates - jayscustomcreations.comSteve Ramsey - woodworkingformeremortals.comIzzy Swan - thinkwoodworks.netFrank Howarth - frankmakes.comDavid Picciuto - drunkenwoodworker.comJohn Heisz - ibuildit.ca

And there are many, many more!What do I hope to do with this blog? Simply to share my journey into this excited, creative world. The one thing that all these individuals have is experience and what I hope to bring to the table is sharing how my inexperience will grow as I learn from others and most importantly from doing.I hope you jump on cause it's going to be a fun ride!